Technology has made it easier than ever to contact someone. From online directories to LinkedIn messages, it’s never been easier to get a hold of someone. With that in mind, people aren’t always as receptive to being contacted and can be less than eager to start a conversation with an unknown recruiter. Even if you’ve got the perfect job, at the perfect company, with the perfect compensation, there’s nothing wrong with having a quick discussion to keep your options open.

Recruiters aren’t just for people looking to make a career shift, so being receptive to a conversation can be a big asset right now, or later down the road. Accepting that invitation to connect or hopping on a phone call can help you survey the land and see what’s out there. It allows you to find out more about hiring trends in your industry, and perhaps what is happening with your competitors. More importantly it can help you get a sense of what your worth, and what others in your line of work are getting paid. Finding out what someone with your experience and qualifications is getting for compensation is a great asset when it comes time to negotiate bonuses, pay increases or new job offers.

Similarly, career shifts aren’t always well planned and can be hard to predict. Making your next move can be a stressful process, which is why having someone in your corner can be such a great help. Taking that conversation, and building a relationship, with a recruiter now can go a long way down the road when you’re looking for your next job.

At the end of the day you never know where you’re going to be in a few years and who may be of help. Relationship building and creating connections is always an asset. The bigger your network, the more opportunities that are available to you. So next time you get approached by a recruiter, even if you’re not interested in making a career change, take the call and see where it goes.

https://www.rostie.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/books-break-coffee-927451.jpg21333200Mike Dimmerhttps://www.rostie.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Rostie_Associate_Logo_Large_forscreen-1426x630.pngMike Dimmer2019-07-11 17:55:452019-07-11 17:57:09Keeping an Open Mind, and Open Inbox

Earlier this month I began working with Rostie & Associates as a new recruiter on their team. As someone who has very recently been caught up in the rat race that is looking for a job, it’s been a nice change of pace being on the other side. Having experienced both sides of the job search market, I thought I would share some things I’ve learned along the way.

Whether you’re looking for a job or are looking for a candidate, communication is key. The way we prepare for, approach, and conduct conversations has a great impact on the type of relationships we build. I’ve found that authenticity and transparency go a long way and have helped me to really connect with the people I’ve contacted. I approach my calls in an open and honest way, looking to make a connection and build a relationship, rather than make a sale. Taking this approach, I’ve found people to be much more receptive and welcoming to my calls. Similarly, it’s important to be confident in who you are what you’re offering in a way that doesn’t come across as arrogant or irritating.

You want to feel comfortable with yourself and what you have to offer while also respecting the person on the other end of the phone, and their current situation.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that in an increasingly digital and connected world it’s never been more important to pick up the phone and actually build a relationship. With social media platforms, like LinkedIn, it’s easy to connect with someone and chat online without ever meeting face to face, or even speaking over the phone. I think we sometimes find ourselves perceiving these online relationships to be stronger than they truly are and have a false sense of security if you may. Taking the time or initiative to pick up the phone, even for just a brief conversation, really goes a long way in fostering your business relationships.

At the end of the day, when it comes to recruiting you’re not just selling a job, you’re selling the candidate on yourself and how you can provide for them. If you want a candidate to take a chance and take a job, then you have to make them comfortable and find a way for them to trust you. That is why I find being honest, transparent and open to be the best approach.

https://www.rostie.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/businessmen-businesspeople-businesswomen-1249158.jpg26274000Mike Dimmerhttps://www.rostie.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Rostie_Associate_Logo_Large_forscreen-1426x630.pngMike Dimmer2019-06-27 20:50:532019-06-27 20:50:53Perspectives from a new recruiter in the industry

https://www.rostie.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/May_June_01.jpg16501275John Vieirahttps://www.rostie.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Rostie_Associate_Logo_Large_forscreen-1426x630.pngJohn Vieira2019-05-29 16:40:002019-05-29 16:40:01The May and June Scoop is Out!

Enjoy This Month’s Scoop And Learn About Exciting Events Happening Around Toronto’s Waterfront.

If you would like to advertise in our growing newsletter we are always happy to showcase local companies and community partners. For more information on advertising, email marketing@rostiegroup.com to request a copy of our Media Kit!

We look forward to what the future holds for all three with The Rostie Group!

The Anatomy of a Virtual Office

A Virtual Office is generally considered to be a package that allows the purchaser to use a business centre’s mailing address as if it were their own. These packages frequently also include services like live reception, a local number, and meeting room hours.

What a virtual office really is, though, is globalization writ small.

How we conduct business has been fundamentally changed since our parents’ time, and the Virtual Office is a very poignant indicator of that. Companies, depending on the industry, can no longer afford to operate solely in one geographic area. In 2018, this expansion is also fundamentally internationalization, in a way that did not occur in, say, the 1950s- this presents numerous opportunities for firms; however, it also presents challenges. The Virtual Office is a symptom of this internationalization, and it arose in response to perhaps the largest of those challenges. For while, a business can be international and exist in many places at once, especially if it does not sell a physical product,

its staff and its offices cannot be.

Enter the Virtual Office. They were first conceived as a way for companies to expand to other regions without having to hire local staff or leasing office space- perfect for branching out quickly into new markets.
They’re still used for this today- people like seeing that the company they’re doing business with has a local address and phone number- even if that company is actually based half a world away.

So, Virtual Offices get used by companies who want to have a presence in other markets. But if you’ve heard of a Virtual Office before, it probably wasn’t being used that way. By far, the most frequent users of Virtual Offices are home business owners. With the advent of the internet, you no longer necessarily need a brick-and-mortar location for your business. People work from home much more frequently now than ever before, and Virtual Offices were enthusiastically adopted amongst that demographic.

Home business owners

choose to work from home- but they may not want their clients to know that.

Virtual Offices are the perfect fit

for that sector; the convenience of no commute married to the outward professionalism of having live receptionists and an address that isn’t in a residential area.
Virtual Offices are the perfect fit for that sector; the convenience of no commute married to the outward professionalism of having live receptionists and an address that isn’t in a residential area.

Virtual Offices are the natural response to a variety of factors present in today’s business climate- they help new businesses look legitimate (previously very expensive), help others expand to new markets, and demonstrate that the business world’s borders have less and less to do with imaginary lines on a map than ever before.

Where is the most interesting place you’ve been? That time I was in London for 4 hours was pretty cool.

What is something that you think everyone should do at least once in their lives? Bungie Jumping. I mean, I’ve never done it, but everyone else should probably do it.

If you had one superpower, what would it be? The ability to make people believe anything I say.

What would you do if you knew you only had 24 hours left to live? Curl up into a ball, try not to cry, cry a lot.

If you could have dinner with anyone, past or present, who would it be? Rob Paulsen.

The Office Industry is Changing

Okay, so when is the industry not changing? This may be a general statement in the world of ever-growing technology and real estate pricing. But, the business centre in a conventional sense is becoming very hard to define.

What is your work environment like? Are you a start up or do you have 40 employees? Do you primarily work at the same desk or find yourself always on the go?

In the past, there have been clear cut destinations that business owners have found themselves drawn to, based on a multitude of criteria. For example, finance companies worked in structured environments with rows of cubicles surrounded by water coolers; graphic designers worked at large

But what if these companies could find themselves rubbing shoulders with each other? Could a world filled with both left and right brain thinkers possibly get along together? The shared office space industry certainly thinks so, and companies are beginning to prove them right.

With industry giants such as Regus & WeWork competing at either ends of shared office space spectrum,

we find numerous office providers who are starting to position themselves somewhere in between – with no clear cut definition of their target market.

A once relatively unknown industry is now being considered by multibillion dollar per-year companies, as it presents a cost-cutting method to operate their businesses with a strict fiscal bottom line in mind.

Once considered feared competitors to be reckoned with, the global recognition and media attention that these industry giants are garnering actually benefits the smaller shared office space providers.

How, you ask, can small businesses benefit from the ever growing giants within an industry?

I pose this question to you: Have you ever had a pizza from Domino’s? You know the price, the quality, the speed of delivery, the shape, size, and consistency, but you’re never wowed by the end result. It is a quick alternative that hides itself behind flashy marketing and a cell phone app. They don’t know you, the customer. They don’t know the specifics of your order (unless you tell them, time after time). They are a generic food factory servicing the masses, without the ability to cater to each of their clients’ immediate needs specifically.

own neighbourhood? These are the same people that know you by name, face and voice. They know that you live on the same street and know that you don’t like too many black olives. They may even be charitable enough to sponsor your child’s soccer team, or better yet, allow you to pay them back next time when you find you’re short on cash. At the end of the day, they’re friends.

The point, very simply, is that people like to pay for a service that is specific to their likes, wants and needs. Sometimes choosing the largest company in the industry is not the best way to proceed.

This is where privately owned business centres secure their slice within the industry (pun absolutely intended). It is very common to have business owners move to these smaller outfits after stints with large corporations. They do this because they are unhappy with the giant’s inability to cater their services to the specific requirements of each company’s business practice.

So, I challenge you to consider all elements of this
ever-changing industry when selecting your next office space provider. Whether you’re a financial giant or a start up app developer, why go with Domino’s when you can choose an experience that is fundamentally yours?

Coffee Tasting

Here at the Rostie Group, we take pride in our coffee. A good meeting needs good coffee to function properly – if it’s an early morning start, for a lot of people, that first cup is exactly what gets them going. We take so much pride, in fact, that we held an impromptu coffee tasting.

We stacked our coffee up against brews from around the neighbourhood. We were a little shocked, and very ecstatic that a blind taste test reaffirmed our faith in our coffee – we won! And not by a small margin, either.

When you’re next at The Rostie Group, come for the meeting, stay for the coffee.

Back in September 2017, Oxford Properties conducted a customer satisfaction and loyalty survey. Many clients took the time to let Oxford know whether they were meeting or exceeding service expectations. To celebrate the fantastic results Oxford have created a visual representation of this commitment via “The Oxford Way” video:

Any size company can benefit from flexible, low cost workspace solutions that don’t require a long-term commitment. Above and beyond the scope of traditional business incubators, our Coworking spaces aren’t just for startups with high-growth potential.